Card-registration mechanism



' April 21, 1925. 1,534.594

W. W. LASKER CARD REGISTRATION MECHANISM Filed May 29; 1924 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO 00000000 37 k g 0 22 34 34 T 7224 2% 000000000 000000 Z0 000000000000 000 0000000000000 0 0000.000 00000003 35 00000000000000 2 0000000000 00 oooy' y 3/ Z Z6 3/ v '0 /g- INVENTOR Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE}.

WILLIAM W. LASKER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T POWERS ACCOUNTING MACHINE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CARD-REGISTRATION MECHANISM.

Application filed May 29, 1924. Serial No. 716,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM WV. Lasnnn,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card-Registration Mechanism, of which the following is a spec- 'ification.

The present invention relates to card control machines for tabulating, sorting, accounting or any other type of machine in which statistical data is assembled, and relates more particularly *to the registration mechanism which locates each card in position with respect to the pin-box of the ma chine. In registration mechanisms employed in-machines of the character outlined it frequently happens that a card becomes jammed or caught in the registration mechanism, and consequently, since the card feed 1s still in operation a number of cards will jam or buckle in the registration mechanism before the machine can be stopped, and after the machine has been stopped, crushed and damaged cards can only be removed from the mechanism with difficulty and considerable loss of time.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to provide an improved card registration mechanism; to provide means in a card registration mechanism whereby access can be readily had to the card passage in the mechanism in case a card fails to feed through the registration passage; to provide a card registration mechanism having a movable part whereby the mechanism. can. be opened and a card quicklyremoved from the mechanism; to provide a card registration mechanism whereby the loss of time caused by cards becoming caught in the mechanism is reduced to a minimum; and to provide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents a transverse section of a card registration mechanism embodying one form of the present invention; Fig. 2 represents a plan of the same; Fig.3 represents a plan of one of the registration plates with a part removed therefrom; and Fig. 4 represents a plan of the part removed from the plate of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, one form of the present invention comprises-a card registra- Lion mechanism formed of an'upper plate 11 conforming generally to the shape of the cards used and a lower plate 12, the two plates 11 and 12 being suitably fastened together in a fixed manner by the use of studs 13 or like fastening means and are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a passage 14 into which the cards are fed successively to be positioned in operative rclation to the pin-box. which is employed to select the particular data punched in the. card; The lower plate 12 is of substantially the same general shape as the upper plate 11 and has an angular-1y disposedlip 15 at the receiving end in juxtaposed relation to an angularly disposed lip 16 on the plate 11, also at the receiving end of the registration mechanism. These lips15 and 16 diverge with respect to the passage 14 and thus form a converging guide for the cards which directs them into the passage 14. The two superposed plates 11 and 12 are each providedwith perforations l7 and 18 corresponding in arrangement tothe pins of the pin-box so that when the latter is lowered to perform a selecting operation the pins can pass freely through the top plate 11 and those pins which find openings in the card can pass freely through the lower plate 12. In the present construction the top plate 11 is of skeleton form and provides only acard guide surface of 'sufiicient size to prevent the card from buckling when it is in.position against the usual card stop which holds it momentarily in registering position in the passage 14.

For the purpose of gaining access to the passage 14 in case a card becomes caught in the registration mechanism through a misfeed, or any other reason, the plate 11 is provided with a section 20, here shown as removable, formed of a perforated part 21 and a strip 22 which interfits with the other, section of the plate 11 to form in assembled condition the complete top plate heretofore described. In this instance the part 21 seats flush with the main part of the plate 11 by the provision of an extension flange 23, while the part 22 in assembled condition is a part of the lip 16.

For attaching the section to its cooperating part, headed pins 24 are secured at opposite ends of the plate 11 and on the fixed portions of the lip 16, while the removable strip 22 carries two bifurcated latches 25 and 26 arranged to respectively engage beneath nor) the heads of the pins 24. These latches are slidably mounted on the lip 16 by the provision of slots 27 and 28 and fixed pins 30 and 31, and are normally held in locking engagement with the pins through the medium of coiled springs 32 and 33 acting respectively between the pins 31 and fixed pins 34 and 85 of the latches. These latches are each provided as here shown with end lugs 36 and 37, by means of which they can be manually drawn toward each other from;

locking position so that theremovable section of the top plate can be taken out at will.

Under normal operating conditions the section 20 is seated in place in the top plate 11 and the construction is such that the usual plane surface is provided to bound one side of the card passage 14:. The spring pressed latches 25 and 26 are now respectively interlocked with the pins 24: and hold the parts rigidly together. In case a card becomes caught in the passage 1a the machine is stopped and by taking hold of the lugs 36 and 37, the latches 25 and 26 are withdrawn from locking position and the section 20 then lifted out of the top plate 11 so that the card can be removed. \Vhile in the present instance the section 20 is entirely removable this is only by way of examp e and is a preferred construction but it is to be understood that the same result might be obtained by various other arrangements of the section and the term removable -is generic and used in a broad sense to include a hinged or any movable part of a registration mechanism which gives access to the card passage.

\Vhile only a single form is shown in which this invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific construction, but might be applied to various forms without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A card registration mechanism having one side thereof formed as a perforated plate having a removable perforated section for access to a card in said mechanism, said section being arranged to be, removed without disturbing said plate.

2. In a device of the character stated, the

combination of a card registration mechanism comprising two spaced fixed plates forming a card passage, one of said plates having a detachable perforated section for access to a card in said passage, and means for detachably securing said section to its plate.

3. In a device of the character stated, the combination of a card registration mecha-. nism comprising two spaced fixed plates forming a card passage, one of said plates having a removable section for access to a card in said passage, and means including a spring pressed latch for removably securing said section to its plate.

4. In a device of the character stated, the combination of a card registration mechanism comprising two spaced fixed plates forming a card passage, one of said plates having a removable section for access to a card in said passage, and means including a plurality of spring pressed latches for removably securing said section to its plate.

5. In a device of the character stated, the combination of a card registration mecha nism comprising a top plate and a bottom plate fixed in spaced relation to form a card passage, a removable section in said top plate for access to a card in said passage, and means interlocking said section and top plate whereby said section can be removed at will.

6. In a device of the character stated, the combination of a card registration mechanism comprising a top plate and a bottom plate fixed in spaced relation to form a card passage, a movable section in said top plate for access to a card in said passage, and means for securing said section in place as a part of said top plate.

Signed at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, this 22nd day of May, 1924.

\VILLIAM W. LASKER. 

